1954 Triumph Thunderbird

[caseys1224]

Just got my hands on a '54 thunderbird.  I have only had experience with late 60's and early 70's Japanese and Brits.....is my first pre-unit resto.  I have no history of engine work on the bike or any work for that matter.  This may seem like a dumb question....what are my fuel and oil recommendations.  I've got some shop manual on the way, just thought I'd ask.  I'm originally from the world of autos and know that hardened valves and seats are needed for unleaded fuel.  

Help!!!!!!!

[twolitre]

As far as fuel is concerned, forget all the crap about hardened seats (and valves?). My '55 pre-unit Speed Twin and '59 unit Speed Twin have covered thousands of miles with neither on 95 Octane unleaded. The valves have not recessed as is shown by the fact that the valve clearances are stable. My 1958 car has done over 60,000 miles on unleaded without modification too!

Lubrication should be:-
Engine SAE 20 or 30
Gearbox SAE 50
Primary chaincase SAE 20.
Grease for everything else except SAE 20 for forks and control cables.

Having copied that from my book I use SAE 20w/50 in my engines, 90EP in the gearbox (SAE 90 gear oil is the same viscosity as SAE 50 engine oil but a different scale is used) and SAE 30 in the primary chaincase because SAE 20 is harder to get. Both bikes are running quite happily on those.

Now I suppose some one will tell me I am doing wrong!

[caseys1224]

THanks so much for the input...and yea...didn't mean to type hardened valves...lol.  But thats great info....I've got lots of motorheads in my family that have been in the antique car world, and yes they probably overemphasize the hardened seat issue, and I have never investigated on my own.  Thanks for all the lube info too.

If you have any good triumph parts connections lemme know.....I have a few, but can never have enough.  Happy riding.

[rogerwilko]

Well stated Twolitre!

[twolitre]

There are any number of Triumph parts suppliers on the internet, but I tend to rely on Len Craig. He produces quite comprehensive free catalogues for unit and pre-unit Triumphs. His prices are reasonable and his mail order service is excellent. Oh, and he is extremely helpful on the 'phone.

[ross.mcw]

Apologies for the hijack of this thread, but I've got a couple of related oil questions.

I've purchased a restored 1952 Triumph Tiger T100 and although it has oil in it, I'm keen to replace it so I know the state of it before I start running it in (got it MOT'd last week).

I'm clear on the recommendations that I've found in the original workshop manual and Haynes (same as listed in twolitre's post above), but I'm still struggling a bit to source appropriate oils that fits a couple of these recommendations.

The engine oil is fine, a basic multigrade mineral 20W/50 which I've got from Halfords.

For the gearbox, I've seen that Millers do a classic oil that would seem to fit the specs exactly:-
http://www.millersoils.net/M3_cgi/millers2.cgi?product_id=76&exact_match=on&type=classic

...but I can't help feeling that a more modern gearbox oil would be better these days and so I was thinking that this one they do might be a better option:-
http://www.millersoils.net/M3_cgi/millers2.cgi?product_id=87&exact_match=on&type=classic

Any suggestions as to which of these two might be best for the gearbox?

Also, for the primary chain chase, I haven't been able to find a straight SAE 20 oil - can I just use the same SAE 20W/50 oil that I've got for the engine?  Can anyone recommend a Millers oil that I could use for this?

Sorry for asking all this stuff - I know that oil related threads on forums like this are a never ending debate!

And 'hi' by the way!

Cheers, Ross.

[L.A.B.]

Any suggestions as to which of these two might be best for the gearbox?

I suggest you use the proper gear oil, ("90" gear oil is equivalent in viscosity to "50" motor oil).

Also, for the primary chain chase, I haven't been able to find a straight SAE 20 oil - can I just use the same SAE 20W/50 oil that I've got for the engine?  Can anyone recommend a Millers oil that I could use for this?

Many classic bike owners use ATF type F in their primary chaincases.

[ross.mcw]

Any suggestions as to which of these two might be best for the gearbox?

I suggest you use the proper gear oil, ("90" gear oil is equivalent in viscosity to "50" motor oil).

Also, for the primary chain chase, I haven't been able to find a straight SAE 20 oil - can I just use the same SAE 20W/50 oil that I've got for the engine?  Can anyone recommend a Millers oil that I could use for this?

Many classic bike owners use ATF type F in their primary chaincases.

Many thanks for the advice!